2012 Oscars Betting Picks

Yes, you can bet on the Oscars. Why does this surprise you? If you can bet on the number of catches Ochocinco will have in a football game, why wouldn’t BetUS bring you the odds in their entertainment props section on the awards ceremony to rule them all? Here’s a rundown of the leading men, women and movies in their respective categories.

Best Supporting Actor – Christopher Plummer (-5000 odds to win Oscar)
Christopher Plummer is on a rampage tour for his role in Beginners where he’s already picked up a Golden Globe. It’s like the academy looked him up on Wikipedia, realized he was 82 years old and freaked out that he’d never one anything more significant than an Emmy or Toney. The closest odds to Plummer in this category is Kenneth Branagh for his role in My Week With Marilyn at +1200. So you do the math. Minus five-thousand!

Best Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer (-3000 odds to win Oscar)
Octavia Spencer edges out everyone else for her already acclaimed role from The Help. My personal favorite is Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids who’s the longshot at +3000 because good luck finding any other actress who could’ve knocked it out of the freaking ballpark like McCarthy did last summer.

Spencer’s co-star Jessica Chastain is the other longshot here at +2000 along with Janet McTeer from Albert Nobbs which is officially this year’s “Say what? That’s a movie?” movie of 2011.

The only upset here is Berenice Bejo from The Artist who chimes in at +800 but with her leading man and movie already up for leading odds to win their own Academy Awards, I’m not sure you’re looking at a clean sweep here for everyone involved.

Best Actor – Jean Dujardin (-200 odds to win Oscar)
I only want him to win so I can see that dog that stood on its hind legs an the Golden Globes stage again. The biggest obstacle to seeing Dujardin and that adorable dog is George Clooney who comes in at +100 to win his second Academy Award.

You know how it is. The Golden Globes give it to the popular celebrity and the academy doles out their trophies to movies like The Artist to an actor who needs more recognition on this side of the world. Clooney doesn’t need the help. Have you seen his girlfriend, or his ex-girlfriends? His immaculate hair? His perfect smile? He seriously does not need the help.

Best Actress – Meryl Streep (-105 odds to win Oscar)
Yeah, the movie was awful but Streep was untouchable this year in that role. Viola Davis from The Help comes in as the leading favorite at -145 but I just can’t see them giving it to her. The difference between Streep and Davis’s roles is simple: The Help is good with or without Davis. If Streep isn’t The Iron Lady, then any hope that movie had for any success is torpedoed the second its panned by critics. Streep’s performance made that movie watchable, which is saying a lot.

Best Picture – The Artist (-1200 odds to win Oscar)
In what’s actually a competitive category this year, my best picture award goes to The Artist simply for being different from any other story telling venture we’ve had on the big screen this year. It’s right in the Academy’s wheelhouse. You know, kind of geeky and a throwback to the good old days.

Sure, Moneyball (+7000) was a heart warming story about a punch a penny pinching ball club stocked with a bunch of losers that didn’t win the World Series. So what if Midnight in Paris (+6000) was the best thing Woody Allen’s done with his career in a decade? Was I the only one that thought Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (+5000) was about angry girlfriends? And seriously – what the hell War Horse (+4000)? Why did you have to steal the thunder of the straight to DVD smash hit, War Bud: Retriever of Peace?

This is a two movie race between The Artist and The Descendants and the former hits on all the notes that make it one of those “timeless classics” the Academy panders to. That’s why it’s the favorite and that’s why betting on any other movie is a sucker’s bet.